This weekend, we finally managed to remove the top shell/deck. After spending too much time trying to preserve the area where the top of the transom meets the underside of the top deck, she came up with the idea of just cutting it all off. This proved to be the easiest solution. It took only a few minutes to separate the two halves. It ends up, the transom was too rotted to try and keep it preserved anyway. The red line in the picture shows where I was trying to cut from the inside without much success. This was due the bonding used to join the two halves together. The yellow line shows where I used the multi tool to cut though from the outside. When I rebuild the transom, I will have to add roughly 3/4" to the top to make up for what I cut off. The other pictures shows the extent of the rot in the transom.
Once the top deck was removed, it was easy to finish up removing the rest of the floor. We used a combination of Harbor Freight's multi tool and angle grinder.
What tool did you use to cut the top off?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jim
I used Harbor Freights Oscillating Multifunction Power Tool http://www.harborfreight.com/oscillating-multifunction-power-tool-68303.html
ReplyDeleteAnything like that will work. I used both the plunge blade and half-moon blade. The blade needs to be long enough to go through the inside fiberglass tabbing and you need the hacksaw like blades to cut the rivets. The back of the transom was tough but since I had to redo the transom anyway I just cut straight through.